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SSA, IRS take different paths on sequestration furloughs

By
Jack Moore

The Internal Revenue Service and the Social Security Administration — two of
the largest federal agencies with very public missions — are taking
divergent paths when it comes to dealing with the automatic, across-the-board
budget cuts known as sequestration.

But the biggest line in the agency's budget is for employee pay, Miller said in
his note.

"As a result, if sequestration occurs and our budget is reduced for the remainder
of the fiscal year, it appears that a number of furlough days will be necessary
given the size of the anticipated budget cut to the IRS," Miller said. "Let me be
clear: We know that asking you to take even one furlough day is difficult. That's
why we've spent so much time and energy trying to minimize the impact on our
employees as much as possible while carrying out our mission. We will continue to
look for cost savings in the coming weeks and months."

The one-day-per-pay-period furlough days — a total of five to seven —
will kick in sometime in summer after the end of tax-filing season, Miller said,
and will likely last through the end of the fiscal year.

The National Treasury Employees Union, which represents IRS workers, said it has
begun informal negotiations with the agency over the furloughs.

Meanwhile, officials with the Social Security Administration said by restricting
spending to mission-critical activities and through other cost-savings measures
such as a
hiring freeze, limited overtime and reduced agency travel — SSA hopes to
avoid furloughing employees.

"I know sequestration is on all of our minds, said Acting SSA Commissioner Carolyn
Colvin in a message to employees. "Clearly, this is a challenging time for us all.
I want you to know that, here at SSA, we will work to minimize the risk of
furloughs that would further harm services and program integrity efforts in the
event of a sequester."